It was as if there were some in the sports broadcasting universe that wanted to remind me that the Baltimore Orioles have been struggling mightily as of late.

Sure, they’re just one game out of first place at the time I type this, but the Birds sadly appear to be in a downward spiral that unfortunately most of us expected.

I’ve been a regular “Baltimore expert” for SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio since the channel’s inception, and I rotate having conversations with hosts about the O’s and the Baltimore Ravens. When I received a call last week asking me to appear on the channel, I assumed the conversation would go in the direction of the O’s, as I’ve made about four Orioles-related guest spots already this season.

But when the producer asked me if I’d be interested in talking some Ravens football, I was admittedly caught off guard. “It’s still baseball season” I thought. Just one night later I received a call from another producer on the channel, also asking me to make an appearance to discuss the Purple & Black.

So on both Friday & Saturday night of this past weekend I found myself talking Ravens football across the country on SXM. It was perhaps the single greatest reminder that in Charm City, a “June Swoon” is a great reminder that Training Camp isn’t particularly far away.

As the 2011 football season ended, there were two main narratives surrounding the defending AFC North Champs. One was surrounding the pending free agency of RB Ray Rice. The other surrounded the future of QB Joe Flacco, who was set to enter the final year of his rookie contract. The Ravens’ season ended 132 days ago in Foxborough (at least as of the time I wrote this) and yet seemingly little progress has been made regarding either situation.

It leads to the question (at least for me), “what’s taking so long to get this stuff done?”

ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio said in a recent appearance on “The Reality Check” (an excellent afternoon radio program on AM1570 WNST.net) that Rice’s agent Todd France was dead set on getting a deal similar to contracts given to Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson (seven years, $100 million with $36 million guaranteed) or Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson (four years, $53 million with $30 million guaranteed). The Ravens are believed to be more interested in a deal similar to those recently given to Philadelphia Eagles RB LeSean McCoy (five years, $45 million with $20.76 million guaranteed) or Houston Texans RB Arian Foster (five years, $43.5 million with $20.75 guaranteed).

On top of that, a source with knowledge of talks revealed to me in recent weeks the Rice camp has a desire to see the running back’s deal exceed the overall value of Flacco’s.

A Carroll County Times report this weekend indicated the Ravens “aren’t anywhere close” to getting a deal done with Flacco. Flacco’s negotiating ability has been limited by the fact that contracts signed by quarterbacks not named Peyton Manning this offseason have been less than overwhelming financially. Manning landed a five year, $96 million deal, but if he’s healthy the Denver Broncos believe him capable of being Peyton Manning. The highlights of other QB contracts this offseason have been San Francisco 49ers QB Alex Smith (three years, worth up to $33 million with with $16.5 million guaranteed) and Seattle Seahawks QB Matt Flynn (three years, $26 million with $10 million guaranteed).

Neither deal is helpful to Flacco’s agent Joe Linta, although despite all of the goofy conversation nationally about Flacco’s standing against other National Football League quarterbacks, there simply could not be any argument either of those two quarterbacks have accomplished as much as Flacco. Humorously, Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo’s deal is up a season after Flacco’s. There had been rumors the Chicago Bears were interested in getting a new deal done with QB Jay Cutler, a decision that could have been helpful in figuring out the parameters of a Flacco contract.

Remember when I asked “what’s taking so long to get this stuff done?” Yeah, I’m aware that I’ve essentially answered my own question.

In both of my chats on SiriusXM this weekend I was asked what expected would ultimately happen with these situations. It was remarkably difficult to answer.

(Continued on Page 2)

Maryland-UConn Game Time Announced

Terps’ second home game of 2012 will start at 12:30 p.m. and be shown on ACC Network

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Maryland’s third football game of the 2012 season, a home contest against the University of Connecticut on Saturday, Sept. 15, will kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET and be shown regionally on the ACC Network.

The Atlantic Coast Conference office announced game times and television outlets for the first three weeks of the 2012 season on Thursday.

The start time for Maryland’s season opener vs. William & Mary (Sept. 1) was previously announced. That contest will begin at 3 p.m. from Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium. The ACC confirmed the game will be streamed on ESPN3.

Kick times for remaining games will be announced at a later date.

Conference game times are generally declared 12 days prior to the contest. Start times for Maryland’s two nonconference road games (at Temple, Sept, 8; at West Virginia, Sept. 22) will be announced by the Big East and Big 12, respectively.

For Immediate Release

RAVENS ROSTER MOVES

The Baltimore Ravens have signed the following rookie free agents:

No.  Name                      Pos.      Ht.        Wt.       Birthdate      Exp.      College

89    Matt Balasavage    TE          6-4        256       2/15/89        R            Temple

42    Nigel Carr                LB          6-2        232       1/22/90        R            Alabama State

87    Bruce Figgins          TE          6-4        272       12/7/88        R            Georgia

41    Jordan Mabin         CB         5-11      180       10/31/88     R            Northwestern

1    Chester Stewart     QB         6-3        214       1/26/89        R            Temple
To make room for the additions, the Ravens released the following rookie free agents:

FB Jamison Berryhill (Texas)

DB Charles Brown (North Carolina)

LB Eltoro Freeman (Auburn)

TE Nick Provo (Syracuse)

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — With uncertainty surrounding the status of Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice, the Ravens decided to address the issue by selecting talented Temple running back Bernard Pierce in the third round.

Trading their 91st and 164th selections to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for the 84th overall pick, Baltimore adds depth to the running back position with a talented runner who produced two 1,000-yard rushing campaigns in his collegiate career before electing to leave Temple after his junior season.

“He’s bigger [than Rice],” said general manager Ozzie Newsome, who denied Pierce’s selection being connected to Rice’s contract situation. “He’s bigger, but he is a runner that can run very well on the inside as well as on the outside.”

Pierce was especially potent in his final season with the Owls, rushing for 1,578 yards and 26 touchdowns. The Temple running back gained notoriety locally when he ran for 149 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-7 rout over Maryland last September.

With Rice remaining unsigned after receiving the franchise tag from the Ravens in early March, the Ravens were extremely thin at running back with only second-year options Anthony Allen and Damien Berry on the offseason roster. Pierce will presumably step into the role left behind by veteran Ricky Williams, who announced his retirement in February.

“What I like about him is he is really good down in the red zone,” director of player personnel Eric DeCosta said. “Also, on the goal line, he is a real physical guy. He can lower his pads and does a really nice job down there. Impressive.”

Listen to Pierce’s conference call with the Baltimore media here.

Check out Pierce’s Wikipedia profile here.

“As of this morning we have already seen some trends on who the public is liking to take this thing down. Florida State who won the ACC and who we opened at 40-1 have dropped down to 30-1 and are a heavy liability for us already.  Syracuse at 10-1 as a #1 seed has also taken quite a bit unlike Kentucky who are clear cut favorites at 9/4 but not seeing too much action at that short price. Michigan State took quite a lot of money when they were as high as 40-1 at one point during the season but now at 17/2 I guess some bettors feel they missed the boat on that one.”

-Kevin Bradley, Bovada.lv Sportsbook Manager 

Odds to Win the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship 

Kentucky (1)                                          9/4

Ohio State (2)                                        11/2

North Carolina (1)                                   13/2

Michigan State (1)                                  17/2

Missouri (2)                                           10/1

Kansas (2)                                            10/1

Syracuse (1)                                          10/1

Duke (2)                                                20/1

Marquette (3)                                         30/1

Florida State (3)                                     30/1

Baylor (3)                                              35/1

Wisconsin (4)                                        35/1

Louisville (4)                                          35/1

Vanderbilt (5)                                         35/1

Wichita State (5)                                    40/1

Georgetown (3)                                      40/1

New Mexico (5)                                      50/1

Indiana (4)                                             60/1

Florida (7)                                              65/1

Memphis (8)                                          65/1

Cincinnati (6)                                         75/1

Kansas State (8)                                    75/1

Connecticut (9)                                      75/1

Michigan (4)                                          80/1

Belmont (14)                                          100/1

Temple (5)                                             100/1

UNLV (6)                                               100/1

Murray State (6)                                     100/1

Notre Dame (7)                                      100/1

St. Mary’s (7)                                         125/1

Gonzaga (7)                                          125/1

West Virginia (10)                                  125/1

San Diego State (6)                                150/1

St. Louis (9)                                          150/1

Alabama (9)                                           150/1

Creighton (8)                                          150/1

Texas (11)                                             100/1

Purdue (10)                                           100/1

NC State (11)                                        100/1

Iowa State (8)                                        200/1

Virginia (10)                                           200/1

VCU (12)                                               250/1

Harvard (12)                                           250/1

California (12)                                        250/1

Southern Miss (9)                                  250/1

Long Beach State (12)                            250/1

Colorado State (11)                                300/1

Colorado (11)                                         300/1

South Florida (12)                                  300/1

Montana (13)                                         300/1

New Mexico state (13)                            300/1

Ohio (13)                                               300/1

Davidson (13)                                         300/1

BYU (14)                                               300/1

Iona (14)                                                300/1

St. Bonaventure (14)                               300/1

South Dakota State (14)                         300/1

Lehigh (15)                                            450/1

Norfolk State (15)                                   450/1

Detroit (15)                                            450/1

Mississippi Valley State (16)                   500/1

Western Kentucky (16)                           500/1

NC-Ashville (16)                                     500/1

Long Island (16)                                     500/1

Lamar (16)                                             500/1

Vermont (16)                                         500/1

Loyola Maryland (15)                              500/1

Odds to Win the South Region           

Kentucky (1)                              5/7

Duke (2)                                    5/1

Baylor (3)                                  11/2

Wichita State (5)                        8/1

Indiana (4)                                 12/1

UNLV (6)                                   25/1

Connecticut (9)                          30/1

Notre Dame (7)                          40/1

Iowa State (8)                            60/1

Xavier (10)                                 60/1

VCU (12)                                   100/1

Colorado (11)                             150/1

New Mexico State (13)               200/1

South Dakota State (14)             200/1

Lehigh (15)                                200/1

Western Kentucky (16)               200/1

Mississippi Valley State (16)       225/1

Odds to Win the West Region 

Michigan State (1)                      11/5

Missouri (2)                               9/4

Marquette (3)                             13/2

Louisville (4)                              13/2

New Mexico (5)                          9/1

Florida (7)                                  14/1

Memphis (8)                              14/1

Murray State (6)                         25/1

St. Louis (9)                              30/1

Virginia (10)                               50/1

Long Beach State (12)                75/1

Davidson (13)                             100/1

BYU (14)                                   100/1

Colorado State (11)                    150/1

Iona (14)                                    150/1

Norfolk State (15)                       200/1

Long Island (16)                         200/1

Odds to Win the East Region  

Ohio State (2)                            8/5

Syracuse (1)                              9/4

Vanderbilt (5)                             9/1

Florida State (3)                         10/1

Wisconsin (4)                            10/1

Kansas State (8)                        15/1

Cincinnati (6)                             18/1

Gonzaga (7)                              30/1

West Virginia (10)                      30/1

Texas (11)                                 30/1

Southern Mississippi (9)             60/1

Harvard (12)                               60/1

Montana (13)                             100/1

St. Bonaventure (14)                   150/1

Loyola Maryland (15)                  200/1

NC-Ashville (16)                         200/1

Odds to Win the Midwest Region        

North Carolina (1)                       8/5

Kansas (2)                                2/1

Georgetown (3)                          10/1

Michigan (4)                              15/1

Temple (5)                                 18/1

Purdue (10)                               18/1

Belmont (14)                              18/1

NC State (11)                            20/1

St. Mary’s (7)                             25/1

San Diego State (6)                    30/1

Creighton (8)                              35/1

Alabama (9)                               40/1

California (12)                            50/1

South Florida (12)                      100/1

Ohio (13)                                   100/1

Detroit (15)                                150/1

Lamar (16)                                 200/1

Vermont (16)                             225/1

Courtesy of Bovada (formerly Bodog), www.Bovada.lv,  Twitter: @BovadaLV. 

Terps will play six home games in 2012, including matchups with Florida State, Georgia Tech and Connecticut

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The 2012 Maryland football schedule, which includes league home games against Florida State and Georgia Tech, and a nonconference tilt with Connecticut, was announced jointly Monday by the Atlantic Coast Conference and the University.

Maryland will open 2012 season, the second under head coach Randy Edsall, on Saturday, Sept. 1 with a game against William & Mary, the first of six home contests.

The Terps, who face eight bowl teams from last year, will not play consecutive road or home games throughout 2012.

After a road trip to Temple on Sept. 8, the Terps return home on Sept. 15 to face Connecticut, where Edsall spent 12 years as head coach.

The Terps will face interstate rival West Virginia on Sept. 22 in Morgantown. Maryland and WVU will be facing each other for the third straight year after taking two years off in the series.

Maryland will enjoy a bye (Sept. 29) before entering conference play with a home game against Wake Forest (Oct. 6).

The Terps will play at border rival Virginia on Oct. 13 before facing a pair of Atlantic Division foes in NC State (Oct. 20 at home) and Boston College (Oct. 27 on the road).

Georgia Tech then visits College Park for the first time since 2007 on Nov. 3 and a road game against defending Atlantic Division champion Clemson follows on Nov. 10.

The Terrapins will face Florida State on Nov. 17, the final home contest for its senior class, before closing out the regular season at North Carolina on Nov. 26. The Terps and Tar Heels have not faced each other since 2008.

Game times will be announced at a later date. League home games are selected on a 12-day option by ESPN or the ACC Network. During the season, ESPN can choose certain ACC games on a six-day window. Times for early-season nonconference home games are announced in the summer.

Season tickets are now available for purchase and renewal.  A variety of season ticket options are available starting as low as $114. There are also family 4-packs available for $420 and season-ticket holders have the ability to spread their cost over six monthly installments.

Fans can purchase tickets by going to www.umterps.com or by calling the Terrapin Ticket Office at (301) 314-7070 or 1-800-IMA-TERP. Single-game tickets will be available at a later date.

2012 Schedule

Sept. 1    William & Mary

Sept. 8    @ Temple

Sept. 15   Connecticut

Sept. 22   @ West Virginia

Sept. 29   Open

Oct. 6      Wake Forest

Oct. 13    @ Virginia

Oct. 20    NC State

Oct. 27    @ Boston College

Nov. 3     Georgia Tech

Nov. 10    @ Clemson

Nov. 17    Florida State

Nov. 24    @ North Carolina

Home games in bold and played at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium; Times are TBA

Schedule Notes:

• Nine bowl teams from last year appear on Maryland’s 2012 schedule: West Virginia (Discover Orange Bowl), Temple (Gilden New Mexico Bowl), Wake Forest (Franklin American Mortgage Music City), Virginia (Chick-fil-A Bowl), NC State (Belk Bowl), Georgia Tech (Hyundai Sun Bowl), Clemson (Discover Orange Bowl), Florida State (Champs Sports Bowl) and North Carolina (AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl).
• Maryland and William & Mary will be meeting for the fifth time. The series is even at 2-all. The last meeting occurred in 2006 with the Terps posting a 27-14 victory in College Park. The teams hadn’t met since 1946.
• Maryland leads the all-time series with Temple, 6-1. The Owls won their first game in the series last season, downing the Terps, 38-7.
• Maryland and West Virginia are playing for the third straight season after taking two years off in the series. The two schools met annually from 1980 to 2007. The Mountaineers hold a 25-21-2 advantage in a series that dates back to 1919.
• Connecticut and Maryland will be meeting for the just the second time. The Terps downed the Huskies, 34-0, in 1946. Randy Edsall was the head coach at UConn from 1999-2010.
• Maryland owns a 42-17-1 advantage in the series against Wake Forest, including victories in nine of the last 13. The Terps have won five of the last six in College Park.
• The Terps lead the all-time series with Virginia, 42-32-2. Maryland has won two of the last three in Charlottesville.
• The all-time series with NC State is tied, 32-32-4. The Terps have won eight of the last 12 in the series.
• Boston College leads the all-time series 6-3. Maryland and Boston College met for the first time in 21 years in Massachusetts in 2006 with the Eagles winning, 38-16 (in Chestnut Hill). Maryland’s 42-35 home victory in 2007 over the eighth-ranked Eagles snapped a three-game BC winning streak in the series. Maryland won the last time it visited Chestnut Hill (2010), its first victory in three trips.
• Georgia Tech leads the series with the Terps, 14-6, having won four of the last five meetings. Five of the last seven games have been decided by five points or less.
• Clemson holds a 32-26-2 advantage over Maryland in the series, but the Terps have won six of the last 11.
• Florida State has a 20-2 edge in the all-time series, but both Maryland wins have come at home in the last eight meetings.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — While I don’t think University of Maryland guard Terrell Stoglin has ever uttered the exact words before, they sounded particularly familiar.

“We came short again from getting that signature win.”

If Stoglin has never uttered some a combination of words before, I know for sure that I have. I’d be willing to guess that Terrapins fans throughout the Baltimore and Washington areas and across the country have said either the exact combination of words or at least something remarkably similar.

Maryland was predictably “almost there” in their 83-74 loss to the University of North Carolina Saturday at Comcast Center. The Terps (13-9, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) had a second half lead and never appeared to be out of it, but couldn’t muster up enough to knock off the #5 Tar Heels (20-3, 7-1 ACC) and give head coach Mark Turgeon his first marquee victory since replacing the legendary Gary Williams.

One of the culprits this time was offensive rebounds, as 19 second chances (on 39 missed field goals) became 18 second chance points for UNC. On the other side, Maryland had just 13 second chance opportunities (on 36 missed field goals) and converted those into just 12 second chance points.

“I know I’m going to watch the tape and probably be disappointed in our effort on the glass, (which) is something I’m on these guys about” Turgeon said after the loss. “I’ve never had more trouble getting a team to be more physical on box outs. We’ve worked on it, we talk about it, we work on it every day.”

Another culprit was Maryland’s inability to turn turnovers into points, as 14 Carolina turnovers resulted in just 11 Maryland points while 13 Maryland turnovers lead to 18 Carolina points.

As I feel like I’ve said before, they were very close to beating a quality opponent. They just weren’t quite good enough. Even Turgeon suggested in his body language (and a few uncharacteristic short answers) that this close call was a bit more frustrating than some of the other near-misses they’ve had against good teams this season.

It feels like a broken record. Much like in losses to Duke, Florida State, Tempe and Illinois earlier in the season; the Terrapins were in no ways blown off the floor by a superior opponent. They played at times exactly the way they needed to play in order to win games, but they just managed to let it slip away during a stretch where they got away from what makes them good.

“(We) had a stretch in the second half where we couldn’t get into anything” Turgeon said. “(Guard) Pe’Shon (Howard) was on the bench. (We) just didn’t look like we could get into anything, and when (North Carolina C/F Tyler) Zeller was out I thought we could’ve made a run.”

This is exactly the scenario that allowed what was once a 48-39 Maryland lead in the second to become a 50-50 tie in less than five minutes of game play.

Maryland is a good team. Well, they’re at least an improving team. They’re certainly better than the team that was blown out by both Alabama and Iona in the 5-hour Energy Puerto Rico Tip-Off in November. They’re just not going to be good enough to make any sort of imprint before the end of the season.

They’re not going to get into the NCAA Tournament, but we already knew that. They’re probably not going to make much of a charge in the ACC Tournament. They’re likely to find themselves on the outside looking in at even the NIT. They still have four games left against ranked teams (home and home against Virginia, games at Duke and North Carolina); but it is still hard to imagine this team improving enough to do more than perhaps steal one of two against the Cavaliers, and that’s honestly a best case scenario.

It will be tough for this team to show marked progress before the end of Turgeon’s first season, but it doesn’t make Maryland basketball a hopeless cause.

In fact, Turgeon probably said it best again after the loss.

“Obviously we’d like to win a couple more. We went to the wire the other night (in a 2OT loss to Miami), great comeback, great effort, really proud of our guys but we lost. Today we competed against the #5/#6 team in the country, great home crowd, lot of fun. I don’t look at 3-5. I really don’t. I’m going to look at the film and see how I can make them better.”

He then wrapped with this.

“You know what I need to do tonight to make myself feel better is pop in the Radford tape (the last game the team played before C Alex Len returned from suspension) and then pop in this tape to see how much better we’ve gotten in a little over a month. The kids are growing up, our preparation is better. We’re just not there yet.”

He’s right.

-G

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — University of Maryland men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon believed that despite entering Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech at the Comcast Center on a three game losing streak his team had been playing much better.

In looking for a message his team could use to turn solid play into actual victories, he channeled a coaching icon.

“My line today (and I’ll give my wife and mother in law credit-my mother in law went to Penn State), Joe Paterno said (in an article) ‘hustle and good things happen’” Turgeon said after Saturday’s game. “So my thought for the day yesterday was ‘have fun, hustle and good things will happen. That was kind of our approach for the last two days. ‘Try to have fun, hustle, and good things will happen’ and it did for us.”

The Terrapins’ 73-69 win over Virginia Tech will never be viewed as iconic itself, but the message was clearly effective. The Terps (13-7, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) hustled out to a 32-19 halftime lead over the Hokies (12-9, 1-5 ACC), then had fun as they held on for the victory-a very good thing after setbacks at Florida State and Temple then at home Wednesday night to Duke.

Turgeon said the aftermath of the lost in Tallahassee sparked a turnaround in his team which finally delivered a victorious result.

“I started getting after them after we lost to Florida State because I didn’t think we played well down there, especially in the second half-we were doing the same things” Turgeon said after the win. “They went in the shower after that game just laughing and joking-and it’s not that way. I say I don’t care about winning and losing, but (Maryland players) know better than that.”

“We talked about giving more and preparing harder, doing what you’re doing and being a better teammate” Turgeon added.

After tough losses to the Owls and Blue Devils, the Terrapins’ improved play finally got them into the win column Saturday. The win came thanks largely to sophomore guard Terrell Stoglin, who again lead the team in scoring with 28 points. Most importantly, Stoglin drilled four 2nd half three-pointers as VT attempted to seize momentum.

“He’s got a will to win” Turgeon said. “He hit those back-to-back three’s for us and those were huge.”

Even bigger was a step-back three Stoglin hit with 2:45 left in the game after the Hokies’ had trimmed Maryland’s lead all the way down to five points.

“I just felt they had the momentum” Stoglin said. “I just wanted to make a bucket. I initially wanted to go to the basket but I saw (the defender) was off me, so I just went to pull up. I was really confident in that shot. You get that feeling. They had the momentum, I just wanted to stop it. That’s all it was. I just concentrated on my shot. I knew it was a big shot for my team, I wanted to take it.”

Turgeon’s Paterno-esque message was delivered after what he described as a week where his team (between practice, meetings and games) gave him four good days out of five. Stoglin said the message included a defensive stress.

“He told us after the Duke game he felt our effort was there but it could have been more. He just told us that he wanted our defense to be there tonight and it was.”

“It has been pretty intense and I think that you can see that” Turgeon concurred. “I think you see a team that really cares about each other. Our preparation for the last three games has been off the charts, and this one has by far been the best. It showed by the way we defended and our preparation. I don’t want to brag about them too much because we’ve had three games in one week and we lost two of them, (but) it’s a lot more fun to be around and it’s a lot more fun to coach.”

Beating Virginia Tech by no means puts Maryland back on track to reach the NCAA Tournament, but it is quite possibly the positive step needed to get a team back on track during an unforgiving conference schedule.

Perhaps the message should stay the same. If Maryland continues to have fun and hustle, you’d assume more good things would happen.

-G

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — It was a fitting night for the Comcast Center floor to be dedicated as Gary Williams Court Wednesday.

Fitting because the atmosphere on campus at the University of Maryland was reminiscent to many nights during the 22 years Williams patrolled the sidelines for the Terrapins before retiring. The stands at the school’s nearly ten year old arena were absolutely rocking with Maryland students and no seats to be had. Students began chanting before the game and remained a factor almost until the game was over.

Unfortunately for the team inherited by Mark Turgeon, the performance on the newly dedicated floor was also fitting for a team that hasn’t really been good enough since Williams left.

The Terps hung in against the eighth ranked Duke University Blue Devils for much of the game, even leading 47-46 midway through the second half. But the Devils (17-3, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) would double up the Terps (12-7, 2-3 ACC) the rest of the way en route to a 74-61 victory. Sophomore guard Terrell Stoglin would again lead the Terps in scoring (16 points), but the Terps would again fail to offer significant help on the offensive end (guard Pe’Shon Howard was next with just ten points). Struggles from beyond the arc (4-13) and the free throw line (11-21) continued to doom a team that lacks enough ability elsewhere to overcome such struggles.

A third straight overall loss for the Terps, it was eerily similar to the defeats suffered at both Florida State University at Temple University last week. They played well enough for a good stretch of the game but their problems ultimately caught up to them against an opponent of either similar or superior ability. They’re pretty good…just not quite good enough.

Mired in a funk after back to back conference wins, Turgeon attempted to put a positive spin on the loss postgame.

“I thought our team battled well and think we had a game plan and we stuck to it and it kept us around” Turgeon said. “We’re getting better. If you could have been in Puerto Rico (for the 5-Hour Energy Puerto Rico Tip-Off), you would have never thought that we could play like we’re playing right now. So, we’re getting there.”

It sounds a lot like coach speak, but it’s actually quite honest. Of course, that’s really the biggest problem facing this Maryland team as constructed.

The difficulty with judging Turgeon’s first season in College Park is that struggles were to be expected. Even after getting Howard back from a foot injury that cost him the first nine games of the season and adding freshman C Alex Len after serving a ten game suspension for eligibility issues, this Maryland team remains uncomfortably thin. Their big bodies aren’t big enough to neutralize talented frontcourts (23 points and 12 rebounds for Mason Plumlee Wednesday night a glaring example) and none of their players in the backcourt have a dangerous enough inside-outside game to truly open things up for anyone else.

They’re trying to win without really having the horses to win. Perhaps that’s where Turgeon deserves the most credit.

The new coach has done everything he can to get players to stick to a game plan, improve defensively and get after the basketball. In losses to Alabama and Iona in San Juan, Maryland did very little of what they needed to do in order to win and were on the wrong end of blowouts.

Over the course of the last nine days, the Terrapins have shown in stretches that they can do all of the little things they need to do to win. But in the stretches where those good habits have disappeared, better teams have been able to walk away with victories in three games.

Turgeon attempted to sum it up after the loss.

“There are still four-minute stretches where we aren’t making a field goal, and that is not going to beat good teams. That happens, when we’re good offensively, we’re good. But we have stretches where we don’t make free throws too. It wears you out and you can’t keep up. In the end, our defense wasn’t quite good enough and rebounding wasn’t quite good enough, neither was our free throw shooting. But our effort was tremendous and I’m really proud of the guys.”

This is the issue. Maryland isn’t a “bad” team. They’re just a team that isn’t quite good enough to be able to win games against good teams. Five such games (two against North Carolina, two against Virginia and the trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium) remain on the schedule, and the other six conference games aren’t cupcakes.

They ARE better. It’s just that there’s not enough time left in this season for that progress to truly equal results. Maryland fans hope to have something to hang their hat on about this team this season, but it’s not likely to come.

Turgeon was going to need time to fully show progress and he still will. A stunning upset of Duke might have been enough to garner favor for until the 2012-2013 season tipped off. Similarly a stunning upset of UNC would do the same.

Unfortunately for Maryland fans, those achievements aren’t likely to be realized. It doesn’t mean Turgeon hasn’t done a nice job in his first season.

They’re better. They’re just not quite good enough.

-G